Category: Home

This is the day

It’s funny how, for me anyway, one of the best things about travel is that along with the opportunity to see new faces and places, learn some life lessons and gain insight into the wild world, it helps you appreciate what you have at home.

The rituals and traditions of home, which for me include the first sip from a freshly brewed cup of tea, the sight and smell of a home-grown rose against a brilliant blue sky, that feeling when the washing has all been sorted, and slipping between the sheets of our freshly made bed.

Things I generally take for granted but appreciate so much more after time away.

To be honest I have mixed feelings about today, the day when our bags would have been packed and ready to go, give or take a few too many clothes, shoes, bits and pieces from home.

My lists would have been checked and ticked off, my anxiety and stress levels high, with the delicious anticipation of the journey ahead buzzing and fuzzing my brain.

This is the day the countdown would have been in hours instead of months, weeks or days. Counting down to the time to close the cases, shut the front door and leave home.

I am genuinely sorry that the holiday we have looked forward to and saved for is not starting today, but also very grateful for the opportunity to take stock, unwind, and just be at home instead.

This is the day my lesson is to savour the tea, smell the roses, count my blessings and appreciate that home is exactly where I need to be.

And to imagine how great the next holiday can be!

One room at a time

The original plan for this week was to get the house clean and tidy for our house-sitting friends moving in over the Easter weekend. Then next week would have been all about preparation for the big holiday.

So the holiday is cancelled but I’m still taking my leave, and the plan now is to get on top of our collective crap and deal with the backlog of housework one room at a time.

I have started in the kitchen, where along with finding out I have a lot of tea, I have uncovered some gems in the recipe collection, including a folder from my daughter’s high school Food and Technology lessons.

Her evaluation of an Anzac Biscuits recipe was priceless:

‘I was not able to cook this lesson as last lesson I did not clean up properly, which was devastating and disappointing but I have learned my lesson and will be better next time.’

My daughter always had a flair for the dramatic, which is how she ended up doing so well on stage, and devastating and disappointing is how I would have described the cancellation of our holiday a few weeks ago.

Watching the Covid-19 situation unfold all over the world, and bracing for potential fallout amongst close friends and family, I can honestly say there is nowhere else I would rather be right now.

I’m looking forward to uncovering more hidden gems, but in the meantime I think I’ll try the Anzac Biscuits recipe to have with a cuppa tea.

A different kind of holiday

I can’t believe it’s been five years since I started sharing my stories on here! Time flies, so much water under the bridge, and all that jazz.

Today is the eve of my long service leave, a six week holiday planned to celebrate my mid-Century milestone which is now cancelled.

Thanks to Covid-19, instead of heading off on a big jet plane, spending time in the city that never sleeps, and cruising from New York to Rome, I will now be having a very different kind of holiday, at home.

Along with tackling a number of jobs around the house that are way overdue, keeping my husband company while he works from home, and taking advantage of online workouts thanks to my gym membership, I’m hoping to revive some hobbies, especially music, gardening, baking, knitting and of course writing which is why I am back here.

According to the astrologer I follow, April is my month for home, so who knows, maybe this was the plan for my leave all along?

Seven Year Itch

dav

I celebrated a milestone on Wednesday, seven years ago my now husband proposed, on our first night on board our first ever cruise.

Fast forward seven years, nine cruises, a handful of new friendships and a lifetime of memories and I can honestly say I’m done.

No it’s not my marriage that’s giving me itchy feet, hand over heart my love for the wonderful man I am privileged to have as my life partner is exponentially stronger than I ever thought possible.

It’s cruising from Australia with Australians I’m done with.

There’s still so much of the world, including Australia, I want to explore but for now there’s no ship on the horizon I plan to board from or return to Australia.

Maybe it’s because we’ve done so much in such a short period of time, or that the serenity of traveling by sea has been tarnished because of and by our laidback larrikan reputation that was unfortunately evident and reinforced on our recent Australia based cruises.

Don’t get me wrong, cruising on the Ovation of the Seas is a truly amazing experience and highly recommended. The ship itself is absolutely awesome, and apart from some teething problems, the crew did their best to ensure our experience on board was entertaining and positive.

For me it’s just a shame that Australia based cruises now include the bonus of bearing witness to the Aussie attitude of ‘I’ve paid my money, I can do what I like.’

“So what if it’s formal night? You can’t stop me walking around the ship or sitting in the front row of the theatre in my boardies and thongs!”

“I’ve paid for the drinks package so I’m going to drink my body weight in alcohol every day, that’s what I call value for money!”

“And my kids love cruising too! They can run amok throughout the hallways, stairs, lifts and especially in the pool, and heaven help the idiot who tries to pull them into line!”

Sorry, that’s just not my idea of a good time, so for now it’s somewhere over the horizon I plan to explore, starting and ending on a far distant shore.

We Are Australian

Sea Princess has just arrived at Marina Bay Cruise Terminal and for some this marks the end of their cruise from Fremantle. Personally I will be only too happy to wave goodbye to the Aussie bogons on board who have unfortunately only reinforced the stereo typical view of us overseas.

The second half of our cruise includes day trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia and will also include three formal nights, and it will be interesting to see how our fellow passengers interpret the ‘smart casual’ dress code for the other nights on our journey home.

Described as ‘Dressing as for a nice restaurant at home’ was interpreted as wearing cut off jeans, singlets and thongs in the main dining room by a few of our fellow passengers on the first half of our cruise.

Attempts by the Head Waiters to discretely recommend dining in the other venues more suited to casual attire were met with contempt and even hostility and unfortunately only proved to reinforce the Aussie Bogan stereotype we also encountered on board Queen Mary 2.

As was the case on the Queen I am sorry to say I have felt ashamed of the reputation being reinforced at sea by some of our compatriots.

One of the best thing about going on a cruise is the ability to choose your own experience thanks to the wide variety of dining and entertainment venues on board.

For those who prefer a casual cruise I respect your right to choose but please show some respect for your fellow passengers and especially the wonderful wait staff and stay away from the main dining room.

Two More Sleeps!

So after what’s felt like a never ending countdown it’s now only two more sleeps until we get on board Sea Princess!

We’ve stocked up on prescription medication, sunscreen and insect repellant, and in my mind packing for this adventure is going to be infinitely less stressful compared to our most recent cruise on QM2.

I like to think that there’s a lesson to be learnt from every travel experience and in theory after six cruises in six years I’ve learnt a few lessons and have packing down to a fine art.

In reality I’m doing everything possible to avoid the reality of condensing what I want down to what I need, preferably in one case and a carry-on.

There’s a mountain of clothes piled up on the bed in a spare room and I’m thinking I need to make the most of my Netflix time at home before we leave.

If you leave me, can I come too?

Well the cases are packed and ready to go, all dress codes and scenarios prepared for as far as I know.

Mastering the art of travelling light is simply beyond my ability when our cruise itinerary includes five formal nights and three balls. Even hubby is struggling and we’ve both ended up with cases weighing more than twenty kilos, although it should be noted that the empty cases were close to five kilos each before we started adding contents. After we removed the cat of course.

So by this time tomorrow we’ll be on our way, with our new ‘normal’ being the contents of our cabin luggage for the next few days.

Right about now is when the nerves start kicking in, as do thoughts of the journey being over before it even begins.

Not sure if and when I’ll be online, so for everyone we’re leaving behind please know you are all in my mind.

The Tyranny of Distance

Four weeks from today we will be on our way to our next adventure, cruising on the Queen Mary 2 from Santiago to Sydney. Thanks to Clean Cruising we scored an amazing bargain that was quite frankly too good to refuse; a 22 night cruise in a balcony cabin with US$1000 on board credit and a bottle of champagne each!

One of those deals that seems too good to be true and there must be a catch.

The catch is that it is going to take our party of four a total of 42 hours to travel from Perth to Santiago, via Abu Dhabi and Sao Paulo, with 29 hours flying time. Yes there is a faster way to get there, but given this was a last-minute purchase it was agreed that a day or two of travel stress, in theory, would be palatable given the cruise starts with four days at sea.

Unless we embark on a cruise in our home port of Fremantle it is a given that there will be at least one plane flight involved with exploring horizons beyond one of the most isolated cities on Earth. Interesting that our cruise also includes Auckland, considered the most remote city with a population in excess of one million, from another city of at least that population.

Maybe that is why it felt so much last home last time we were there, on our Christmas cruise from Sydney?

This photo was taken by me when the Queen Mary 2 was in Fremantle on her Maiden visit on March 2010, when thousands of locals lined the harbour to wave flags at and admire the majesty of such a beautiful vessel. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would one day be sailing on her! Just goes to show that you should never let the Tyranny of Distance prevent you from going off exploring.

My ‘Claytons’ @Dry July

This year is my first attempt at committing to Dry July and for me the experience has evolved into an interesting social experiment.

Drinking alcohol is so ingrained in my world that my abstinence appears to be somewhat of an affront to others and they are only too willing to pay for me TO drink rather than have me be the wallflower.

Obviously this is a dilemma others have experienced, hence the ability to purchase a ‘Golden Ticket’ for a specific date, which means that despite being signed on to staying sober for 31 days I have the option of taking a ‘leave pass’ from sobriety.

Effectively a win-win for me and my nominated charity recipient, to date I have already received three Golden Tickets which has helped boost my fundraising tally and (in theory)
allow me to drink with a clear conscience.

So why is my conscience standing with her arms folded and one eye-brow raised giving me ‘Evils’?

It feels like I am cheating, having a drink when I am not drinking, hence the Claytons reference.

For the uninitiated, Claytons is a Kola Tonic packaged to look like Whisky that was heavily advertised in my childhood as
“the drink you have when you’re not having a drink”.

A quick search online reveals that it is still available but hard to source in my local area. To be honest I don’t think it sounds particularly appetising, and like all the other non-alcoholic beverages I have been drinking over the past two weeks it’s likely that there is only so much you can consume before craving a spirit to mix it with.

As for my Dry July, to be fair I logged a not-too-shabby ten day draught before my first Golden Ticket, and that is longer than I have gone without a ‘social lubricant’ in a very long time.
My fundraising total is already $200+ and I have two more ‘leave pass’ dates to look forward to before the end of July.

It will be interesting to see how many Golden Tickets I accumulate and what they contribute to my fundraising tally by the end of the month, but in the meantime I will ignore my conscience and look forward to the opportunity to plan for and savour my next alcoholic drink.

At the end of the day, it’s looking like that will be my key learning from the whole experience.

Think before you drink; I think there’s a lesson in there for all of us.

#dryjuly

Happy EOFY

Is it just me, or does the end of financial year ‘rush’ manifest in a
personal stocktake for anyone else?

The urge to spend is hard to overcome when there are serious bargains to be had out there, and likewise the workplace end of year need to tie off all the loose ends can mean a different type of rush for some.

The end of a Semester of study and subsequent lifting of the ‘black cloud’ of assessments and exam preparation sheds new light on whatever is over the horizon;
even if it is more of the same it feels like a new start.

As we approach the Winter Solstice my thoughts are already turning to Spring, with my head full of ideas for bringing new life into my home,
although overcoming the urge to hibernate in the meantime is my
biggest hurdle.

In the blink of an eye my children are now young adults dealing with life in their own unique way, their legacy a childhood of milestones and memories left for me to sort through.

Watching them navigate their own path leads to further reflection of my own life journey, what my personal legacy will be at the end of my time, and how life has a way of throwing obstacles in my way that were not accounted for in my last personal stocktake but will hopefully result in better planning for the next one.